Cold and Rainy Day

It didn't matter much that it rained yesterday - the museums were dry. However, today we took a half day tour to Volendam, Marken and Zaanse Schans, and we wished for brighter weather.

Volendam is a touristy village on the shore of Lake IJsselmeer, which was created in 1932 with the closing of the Zuider Zee. The lake is now fresh water, and the towns along it are protected from floods.

Lining the dike on the walk into the village were pretty houses. To a Canadian, these looked like miniature houses.

But looks can be deceiving, as these houses extended far back, and had at least one floor below the main level. Note the pretty garden in this one in a very compact area.

Marken was altogether less touristy, with a distinctive house style. Canals ran through the village and once again there were compact gardens.

We ended our trip by visiting Zaanse Schans, an open air museum which showcased 14 windmills salvaged from the thousand or so that used to be operating in this area. The industrial area grew up to produce finished goods from raw materials being imported from around the world when Holland was such a urge trading power in the 17C.

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Netherlands 2017

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